Exercises, simulations and the like are extremely useful tools for training individuals, including for example law enforcement and military personnel, in the use of firearms. One particularly useful type of training exercise or simulation involves confronting an individual having a firearm with a series of "friendly" and "unfriendly" targets. In such an simulation, the object is for the trainee to fire his or her weapon at the "unfriendly" targets while refraining from firing at the "friendly" targets.
A variation on this training exercise is to have multiple participants involved in the simulation. Exercises involving multiple participants can be much more chaotic, making it difficult for the individual participants and for observers to determine and evaluate what happened. In particular, difficulties can arise in determining which of the individual participants "fired" their weapons at a particular target and also when a participant discharged his or her weapon. Often in the heat of an exercise, an individual can fire his weapon without recalling it afterwards or even realizing it at the time he fires the weapon. In addition, a participant can believe he fired, or recall firing, his weapon when he actually did not fire. As will be appreciated, information concerning which of the individual participants fired at a particular target and when they fired at a particular target is essential to analyzing and evaluating the training exercise and to providing the participants with useful feedback.